Fires without tanoak: the effects of a non-native disease on future community flammability

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dc.contributor.authorVarner, J. Morganen
dc.contributor.authorKuljian, Howard G.en
dc.contributor.authorKreye, Jesse K.en
dc.contributor.departmentForest Resources and Environmental Conservationen
dc.date.accessioned2020-03-20T12:40:40Zen
dc.date.available2020-03-20T12:40:40Zen
dc.date.issued2017-08en
dc.description.abstractNon-native pathogens affect forests throughout North America, resulting in changes in species composition, structure, and ecosystem processes. We studied the effects of the emergent disease sudden oak death (SOD) and the resulting functional extinction of tanoak, a highly susceptible native tree with flammable litter, on future community flammability. We quantified four flammability metrics (flame height; flaming duration; smoldering duration; and fuel consumed) for litter from each of five species that co-occur with tanoak and for species mixtures with and without tanoak (n = 14). We combined these flammability metrics in a Principal Components Analysis to evaluate potential shifts in litter flammability from pre-SOD (with tanoak litter) to post-SOD (where tanoak was replaced equally with remaining species). Litter flammability changed following the loss of tanoak, but the differences were species- and community-specific. Mixed-evergreen fuels where coast Douglas-fir litter replaced tanoak experienced consistent declines in flammability. Few substantive changes occurred in communities where coast redwood or other hardwoods co-occurred. We found consistent synergistic flammability effects when multiple species' litters were mixed; in cases where two or more species were mixed, most (75%) combinations burned with higher intensity (+8.1%) and fuelbeds flamed for a longer duration (+17.1%). Our work demonstrates that potential surface fire behavior in northwestern California may be dampened where Douglas-fir replaces tanoak, while those communities with other hardwoods or coast redwood may have redundant fuels and tanoak's absence in future fires may be inconspicuous. These results underscore the potential for cascading effects of non-native pathogens on ecosystem function in fire-prone ecosystems.en
dc.description.adminPublic domain – authored by a U.S. government employeeen
dc.description.notesLaboratory assistance was provided by C. Shoemaker, M. Jones, and J. Szecsei. Discussions with D. Rizzo and R. Cobb stimulated the development of this research. We benefitted from advice and discussions with E. Engber, T. Shearman, M. Metz, J. Crotteau, and M. DeSiervo. E. Jules provided a thoughtful review of a previous version of the manuscript. The manuscript benefitted from helpful comments provided by the reviewers. Funding was provided by a University of California- California State University Collaborative Research Grant, the L.W. Schatz Demonstration Tree Farm, and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region. JMV and HGK conceived and designed the study. HGK and JMV performed the research. JMV and JKK analyzed the data. JMV and JKK wrote the paper.en
dc.description.sponsorshipUniversity of California- California State University Collaborative Research Grant; L.W. Schatz Demonstration Tree Farm; USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest RegionUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA)United States Forest Serviceen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1443-zen
dc.identifier.eissn1573-1464en
dc.identifier.issn1387-3547en
dc.identifier.issue8en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/97384en
dc.identifier.volume19en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCreative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedicationen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/en
dc.subjectDouglas-firen
dc.subjectFire regimesen
dc.subjectFunctional extinctionen
dc.subjectLitteren
dc.subjectNotholithocarpus densiflorusen
dc.subjectPhytophthora ramorumen
dc.subjectSudden oak deathen
dc.titleFires without tanoak: the effects of a non-native disease on future community flammabilityen
dc.title.serialBiological Invasionsen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

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